Employers meet employees

"Leaping into the future of labor economics: the research potential of linking employer and
employee data" is the title of a paper by Daniel S Hammermesh published in Labour Economics
in 1999. I quote it here, since it captures much of my motivation for the work included in this
thesis. Considering applied micro econometrics and labor economics my main elds of interest,
the development of linked employer-employee data that took place in Denmark around the time
of the new millennium, marked new and exciting possibilities.
For some years Danish researchers have had access to very detailed information on all people
living in Denmark, but at the beginning of this century also data on all companies linked to these
persons was being made available for research. Combined with modern computer technology
this meant access to a linked database following all employers and all employees in Denmark
over time.
I had no doubt that this should be the centerpiece of my Ph.D. The result has been two
lines of research, one studying the e¤ect of globalization on labor demand in Denmark, and one
studying sorting, that is, how and why employers meet employees in the labor market. In the
summary I treat each line of research independently although I would like to emphasize, that
studying a labor market where fi rms and workers reacts to one another is the corner stone in
both.